Author: Editor

(1447-1510) Catarinetta (little Catherine) Fieschi, was a child of a noble family of Genoa. At 13, she wanted to enter a convent but was refused admission because of her youth. When she was 16, she was given in marriage to a young nobleman, Julian Adorno. For this reason, she is sometimes called St Catherine Fieschi-Adorno. […]

(1672-1732) Lucy Filippini was orphaned at an early age. At age 6, she went to live with her aristocratic aunt and uncle who encouraged her religious inclination by entrusting her education to the Benedictine nuns at Santa Lucia. Under the patronage of Cardinal Marcantonio Barbarigo, she was entrusted with the work of founding schools for […]

(1917-1980) Oscar Arnulfo Romero was born in 1917, in Ciudad Barrios in the province of San Miguel, El Salvador. His father trained him to be a carpenter, but at the age of 14, he left home to study to be a priest. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of San Salvador in 1942 […]

(1538-1606) Imagine someone who had never been a priest, let alone a bishop, stepping out of layman’s shoes into those of archbishop of an episcopate 6,000 miles from home. If you can come up with a name, it would be Turibius of Mogrovejo. As a young man, Turibius was a brilliant scholar of the law […]

(Died 1606) Nicholas’ nickname was “Little John” for his small stature. It could have easily been “Little Fox” for all the times he deceived authorities to save Catholic priests and laymen from the religious persecution of the English crown. Over a period of 20 years Nicholas used his skills to build secret hiding places for […]

(Died 530) Just a few days after the feast of Ireland’s most famous saint, Patrick, we celebrate another Irish trailblazer, Enda of Aran. He is a remarkable character in Catholic and Irish history, as his life’s path took a 180-degree turn. Enda inherited control of a large territory in present-day Northern Ireland from his father […]

(1520-1567) St. Salvator of Horta was born of poor parents in 1520. Orphaned when still quite young, he tended cattle and was later sent as an apprentice to a shoemaker in Barcelona. When he was 20 years old, he entered the Franciscan Order as a lay brother. He distinguished himself among his brethren by rigorous […]

Undoubtably, the news that his intended bride was pregnant came as a shock to Joseph. But as Matthew says in his Gospel, Joseph was “just” man. Instead of his wounded pride or dignity, Joseph first thought was to save Mary from public shame or, worse still, from the stoning to which she risked being condemned. […]

(315-387) Cyril was born in Jerusalem about 315, shortly after the legalization of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Although that legalization put a stop to many of the persecutions that threatened the Church for two centuries, it indirectly gave rise to a number of internal controversies—both in regard to theology, and the jurisdiction of bishops—in […]